But first a word from our health department, which, you know, has employees who would like the City to require letter grades to be posted outside of every joint in town. You know, the way that San Diego, that Progressive bastion, does it. But our Golden Gate Restaurant Association said no so that’s that, no Department of Health letter grades posted at restaurants in the 415.

024 Ready-To-Eat-Food – Exposed to Possible Contamination from Raw Meats/Poultry/Fish/Eggs All food shall be manufactured, produced, prepared, packed, served so as to be pure, free from contamination, adulteration and spoilage. All food must be stored in an approved facility. Food shall be covered and stored as to be protected and kept free from contamination. Food shall be stored in approved containers and labeled as to contents. Food shall be stored at least 6” off the floor on approved shelving. (113980, 114010, 114020, 114080)

SAN FRANCISCO (July 12, 2011) — City Attorney Dennis Herrera today sued Dick Lee Pastry, Inc. and its owners and operators for violating state and local laws intended to ensure minimum wages, overtime compensation, and lawful competition by failing to pay more than $440,000 in wages plus interest to seven of their employees. The litigation comes as the result of an investigation by San Francisco’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement under the direction of Division Manager Donna Levitt. Also named as defendants in the lawsuit are Peter Yu and Ada M. Chiu, who own the restaurant at 716 Jackson Street.

Herrera’s lawsuit, which was filed in San Francisco Superior Court today, seeks to recover compensation for the cheated workers that would include all unlawfully withheld wages, plus ten-percent interest, plus penalties of $50 per day for the duration of their employer’s wage violations. Herrera is additionally seeking penalties of $50 per day per employee as compensation to OLSE under San Francisco’s Minimum Wage Ordinance; potentially severe civil penalties under California’s Unfair Competition Law; and attorneys’ fees and costs associated with the action.

“Robbing employees of wages to which they’re entitled doesn’t just hurt working families — it also hurts honest businesses and their employees by corrupting a competitive marketplace,” said Dennis Herrera. “Dick Lee Pastry stands out even among the most egregious perpetrators of wage theft in San Francisco. They paid wages well below the legal minimum, demanded long hours with no overtime, instructed workers to lie to labor investigators, and retaliated against those who sought to protect their rights. I hope today’s lawsuit sends a strong message to other would-be wage cheats about the seriousness of our resolve to protect working men and women in San Francisco. I applaud the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement for their investigation of this case, and I’m grateful to the Chinese Progressive Association for their community outreach efforts.”

LOS ANGELES – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today filed a $6.6 million lawsuit against eight car washes owned by members of the Sikder family — proprietors of the Hollywood restaurant named Koi — after an investigation revealed a “widespread pattern of worker exploitation,” unpaid wages and illegal business practices.

“While Koi served up yellowtail tartare and Kobe beef carpaccio to Hollywood celebrities, the restaurant’s owners routinely denied wages, breaks and overtime pay to workers at their unlicensed car washes,” Brown said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to end this widespread pattern of worker exploitation.”

Investigators interviewed more than 80 workers and found the car washes routinely denied workers minimum wage and overtime, failed to pay wages owed to those who quit or were terminated, denied rest and meal breaks, and created false records of time worked.

This spot has no props and no photos – it’s just JB straight-up with only one cut to go to a simple graphic that simply states, “Make Tough Decisions.”

This still caught the tail end of the graphic as it faded away to make room for more tough talk.

Anyway, here’s the release:

New Brown Ad: A Serious Conversation With Voters

OAKLAND – Attorney General Jerry Brown today announced the release of his latest television commercial – a 30-second ad in which Brown offers some straight talk about the present and his plans for a more prosperous future for our state.

The ad features Brown speaking directly to voters, talking about his plan to return more authority to the local level, his commitment to no new taxes without a vote of the people, and his pledge to put partisanship aside and bring people together as governor.

“California has always come back, and it will again,” Brown said. “Sacramento needs to be straight with the people. It’s what I’m doing in my campaign and what I’ll do as Governor.”

Jerry Brown: Our state is in a real mess. And I’m not going to give you any phony plans or snappy slogans that don’t go anywhere. We have to make some tough decisions. We have to live within our means, we’ve got to take the power from the state capital and move it down to the local level, closer to the people. And no new taxes without voter approval. We’ve got to pull together not as Republicans or as Democrats, but as Californians first. And at this stage in my life, I’m prepared to do exactly that.

SACRAMENTO – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today filed a $34 million lawsuit against television’s “Tax Lady Roni Deutch” for orchestrating a “heartless scheme” that swindled thousands of people facing serious and expensive tax collection problems with the IRS.

“Tax Lady Roni Deutch is engaged in a heartless scheme that swindled people with tax problems,” Brown said. “She promises to significantly reduce their IRS tax debts, but instead preys on their vulnerability, taking large up-front payments but providing little or no help in lowering their tax bills.”

Deutch manufactures credibility by boasting that her tax resolution law firm, which has annual revenues of at least $25 million, is the largest of its kind in the nation. She spends $3 million a year on advertising, much of it on late-night cable TV, and frequently offers tax advice on NBC’s Today Show, CNN, and CNBC.

O.K. then. For Jerry Brown, the time to swab your mouth to get DNA is when you get arrested for a felony, but the ACLU thinks that law enforcement should wait until you get convicted of a felony. That’s the focus of today’s oral arguments at the 9th Circuit.

Now, one of the recent successes of the state’s DNA program is the capture of the Grim Sleeper down in L.A. County. That’s an amazing story involving the use of “familial DNA,” an approach that’s illegal in some parts of the U.S. but A-OK here due to JB’s approval back in in aught-eight.